A Lucky Man
by ilovetvalot
Summary: Rossi and Prentiss' reactions post ep "Nameless, Faceless" Rossi/Prentiss As ever, I don't own Criminal Minds.


**Author's Note: Thanks, Sienna27, for that list of prompts. It truly helped. Please read & review. I love hearing your feedback, readers! As ever, I don't own Criminal Minds.**

**A Lucky Man**

**Prompt: Brothers & Sisters - "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off"**

Emily Prentiss heard the pounding against her apartment's front door and glanced at the clock on the wall. Right on schedule. Blowing out a long breath, she pushed herself out of the deep recliner she'd been curled in and headed for the door.

Hearing the incessant pounding begin again in earnest as she reached the foyer, she eyed the door warily. She knew what was waiting for her on the other side, and for once, her heartbeat didn't accelerate with the thrill of anticipation. No, it was more like trepidation this time around.

"Damn it, Prentiss! I know you're in there! Open the goddamned door," an angry David Rossi ordered, cursing fluidly.

Jerking open the heavy door, Emily glared at her lover. "Keep it down! I have neighbors!" she hissed, facing him.

Stepping inside, Dave growled, "Then I suggest that you close the door. Otherwise, they're all gonna get a fucking earful!"

Taking her time and closing the door deliberately, Emily mentally gathered her strength for this confrontation. She'd known it was coming from the moment she'd seen his face with its clenched jaw striding into Hotch's room at the hospital. David Rossi had been angry…enraged even. And he hadn't said a blessed word to her. She didn't know if she'd been blessed or cursed. But the looks he'd nailed her with over the next several hours had spoken volumes.

Now, as she viewed him standing in front of her with clenched fists, she wondered what this was more about. Hotch or them.

"Say what you've got to say, Rossi. And then get out," Emily bit out.

"Well I've got a LOT to say, Prentiss! Starting with, today, you made a fucked up call!" Dave yelled. "How could you make such a newbie move?"

"Excuse me?"

"You should have called me!" he shouted.

"I made the only decision I could at the time. You couldn't have helped Hotch! He was already gone!" she yelled back. "And you had a job to do!"

"Don't! Don't use Hotch for an excuse! This isn't about Hotch, Emily and you goddamn well know it!" Dave said, his voice lowering, but his tone no less angry.

"Of course it's about, Hotch! You're mad at me because I didn't give you the heads up on what was happening on your best friend and former protégée! But I made the best judgment call I could at the time. You'd all have never solved the other case if your attentions had been split. None of you would have been able to concentrate!"

"Goddamn it, Emmy!" Dave growled, swiping an irritated hand down his face. "You really don't get it, do you?"

Hearing his pet name for her rolling off his lips, Emily softened, albeit slightly. "I guess not," she said more quietly. "Why don't you stop yelling at me and explain it to me?"

Clearing his throat uneasily, he nodded. "Fine. But I need a scotch first."

"You know where it is," Emily shrugged, watching him stride into the living room toward her liquor cabinet. Watching him automatically reach for his bottle of Glen Livet, she smiled faintly. If somebody had told her six months ago that premium scotch would be a staple in her home, she have laughed herself silly. But, she honestly couldn't say that she minded. It was a small price to pay when she could go to sleep beside the man currently pouring his usual two fingers.

Watching him take a healthy swallow of the amber fluid in the cut glass in his hand, she asked softly, "Now, will you explain to me how it is that you think I fucked up so massively?"

"You took an ungodly risk this morning, Emmy," Dave said hoarsely, turning to stare out the glass window at the DC skyline. "An unnecessary risk. You should have called me," he said quietly.

"Dave, I'm a trained agent. I think I was qualified to do a sweep of Hotch's apartment," Emily argued.

"That isn't the fucking point!" Dave said sharply, his fingers tightening on the glass in his hand. "He could have still been in there, Emmy! That fucker still could have been there! And you went in ALONE! Do you think you're fucking invincible? Do you?"

"He wasn't there, Dave. But, Hotch could have been in there! I HAD to go in," Emily explained, her tone pleading him to understand her point of view.

"You didn't have to do it ALONE!" Dave spat.

"Hotch was down, Emmy! Knifed nine goddamned times! What do you think Foyet would have done to YOU if he'd been there? Huh?" Dave yelled.

"You're yelling again, Dave," Emily commented tiredly.

"Fuck, yeah, I'm yelling. You're goddamned lucky I'm not shaking you until your teeth rattle. Which, by the way, is why I couldn't say anything to you all evening. I was afraid of what I might do!" Dave snapped.

"He wasn't there, Dave. Neither was Hotch. I made a decision. I did my job. The same as you would have," Emily said, feeling justified. She'd never apologize for doing what she thought was right. Hell would freeze first.

"I, I, I…see that's the problem, Emmy," Dave growled, slamming his glass onto the coffee table. "You aren't "I" anymore, you're part of a "we"! Whether anybody else knows that or not, you are part of a "we"! And if you can't get that through that thick skull of yours, we need to call this whole thing off!"

"You're threatening me?" Emily asked angrily, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I'm being honest," Dave replied unapologetically. "When it dawned on me that you'd walked into a situation, ALONE, where you could have gotten yourself killed, my heart stopped. And, the thing is, you'd do it again! You aren't even sorry for doing that to me! You think it was entirely justified!" he continued, exasperated.

"No, it was a fucked up situation that I handled to the best of my given ability AT THE TIME! You know as well as I do, when you're in the thick of things, you rely on instinct. I AM sorry that I scared you. I really, really am. YOU should know by now that I NEVER deliberately try to hurt anybody! And certainly not YOU!" Emily shouted as her eyes filled with tears.

"Cara, don't," Dave whispered, reaching for her as he heard the crack in her voice.

"No! You don't get to do that! You just threatened to end WHATEVER this is between us because I made a judgment call! You don't get to "cara" me now!" Emily hissed, pushing his arms away and taking a step back.

"I was scared today, Emmy. And not just for Hotch. I hate that," Dave said solemnly with quiet honesty.

"So was I," Emily returned uneasily. "The difference is that I didn't second guess what you could have done differently."

Meeting her eyes, Dave knew the beautiful woman before him had a legitimate argument. He was condemning her for a problem that had had no good solution. Sighing deeply, he dropped his chin to his chest and said, "I'm an asshole."

"Yeah," she whispered flatly.

Licking his lips, he added, "But I'm the asshole that loves you, Emmy. I almost lost Hotch today…if I'd have lost you, too…I don't know if I could….I honestly don't know what I'd do."

"Back at you, Rossi," Emily ground out, turning away. "But I never threatened to walk away from you."

Looking at her back, he saw the tense posture. He was familiar with it. It's how she held herself when she was trying to keep the pain at bay. He knew she was fortifying her shields and that if he didn't act quickly, she'd hide herself behind those barriers. Approaching her quickly, he drew her back against his chest, running his hands up and down her toned arms. "I say some really stupid things sometimes before I think them through. You know that," he whispered against her hair.

As she nodded mutely, he felt her ease a small bit in his arms. Swallowing, Dave tried not to choke on his next words. "I hate the call you made today. But you had every right to make it. I realize that now," he whispered.

Closing her eyes, she knew that was as close to an apology as David Rossi ever offered anyone. Especially when he thought he was right. Leaning her head back against his shoulder, she felt his arms tighten around her narrow waist. "You know, I love you, too," she told him quietly.

"Even though I'm a loudmouthed, ill-mannered, opinionated Italian egotist," he smiled gently against her neck.

"In spite of the fact that you're a loudmouthed, ill-mannered, opinionated Italian egotist," she corrected, turning in his arms to rest her head against his chest.

Standing there in her living room with her wrapped in his arms, Dave murmured, "So, have I ruined all chances of crawling into your bed with you tonight?"

Lifting her head to slowly press a kiss to his lips, Emily twined her tongue with his. Pulling back to nip at his jaw line, Emily murmured, "What do YOU think, Agent Rossi."

"I think, Emily, that I'm one very lucky man," Dave whispered, bending his head to claim her lips again.

**FINIS**


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